The present invention relates to the field of software testing and, more particularly, to automated test execution plan generation.
Software testing is a critical element of software development. A variety of automated software tools exist to assist in the management and/or performance of software testing. For example, an automated testing tool executes predefined scripts that simulate software usage. Other tools focus on the generation of various testing process artifacts, such as test cases and project timelines.
However, in spite of these tools, conventional creation of test execution plans is still a manual process. Generation of a test execution plan requires the consideration of many factors, which are often stored in systems that are external to the software testing system. For example, determining the availability of software testers would require consulting a project management and/or calendar program, whereas the testing-related information is contained within the software testing system.
Due to its manual nature, this process is time-consuming and easily subjected to human errors. It is possible for different personnel to generate differing test execution plans based on the same data and parameters. Further, the different test execution plans can be stored in dissimilar formats. This lack of standardization inhibits meaningful analysis of the test execution plans and their contents, such as determining gaps in testing coverage.